Red Badge Bio's

Meals on Wheels

Hot food, warm smiles, peace of mind

The Health Trust Meals on Wheels program serves physically challenged, homebound individuals, whether they are elderly, are recuperating after a recent hospitalization, or have disabilities confining them to a wheelchair. Drivers, most of whom are volunteers, deliver hot, nutritious meals five days a week, sometimes with the option of a once-a-week frozen meal.

State affairs; transporation, housing, mental health, and more

Jim Beall brings a lifetime of experience and understanding in transportation, housing, and government efficiency to the State Senate.In three decades of public service – first as a San Jose City Councilman, then as a Santa Clara County Supervisor, and legislator in the Assembly -- Beall has left his mark across Silicon Valley and beyond.

Beall and his wife, Patricia, have been married for more than 34 years. He has two stepsons and a grandson. He is a graduate of San Jose State University where he studied urban planning and political science. Beall, who was born in San Jose, is a lifelong resident of the city.

How they empower families

Janis Baron, Founder and Board President, Prior to founding Sunday Friends in 1997, worked for 15 years at Apple, Intel and other companies, including start-ups, in a variety of roles, including engineer, project leader and manager. 46 years of volunteer work, including tutoring, suicide prevention, inner-city community projects, work with developmentally disabled and mentally ill populations and creation of after-school curricula and community service clubs and events. She holds an M.S. in Computer Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Mission:
Sunday Friends empowers families to break the generational cycle of poverty by fostering positive development in children while educating and guiding parents to support their children's life success.

Affordable Housing

Kathleen Wortham, or Kat, is the Housing & Health Policy Associate at the Leadership Group. Her work focuses largely on health care law reform, advancing public health initiatives and workplace wellness, and advocating for affordable housing through policy and community representation.

Before becoming an Associate, Kat was a coordinator at the Leadership Group on the Housing portfolio where she spearheaded the 2017 Affordable Housing Tour and championed advocacy efforts for the Leadership Group on three high density, mixed-use housing developments in the South Bay.

Kat earned her B.S. in Psychology from Dominican University of California in 2016. Her future goals include obtaining a J.D. and working on criminal justice reform. In her spare time, Kat enjoys hiking across the Bay Area and travelling as much as possible.

“Leave memories, not decisions.”

Managing Partner

Nicholas was born and raised in Kansas. He is a second generation family member working in funeral service and has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years. He moved to San Diego in 2000 to attend San Diego State University and obtained a degree in Business Management. He and his wife Kendall relocated to the Bay Area in October 2008. He has since been managing Darling & Fischer Family Mortuaries and Los Gatos Memorial Park. He is an active member in the Campbell community and belongs to Campbell Chamber of Commerce. Nicholas and Kendall live in Campbell with their two children, Audrey and Lachlan.

"Modern Approaches to Treating Heart Disease"

MODERN APPROACHES TO TREATING HEART DISEASE

Ever since the heart lung machine was first used in open heart surgery in 1953, cardiovascular science has always pushed the boundaries of what is possible. In particular, the last two decades have brought groundbreaking innovations that changed the way we approach cardiovascular disease. Please join the speaker as we walk through some of the history of cardiovascular interventions as well as more modern and minimally invasive techniques such as transcutaneous aortic valve replacement, Watchman device implantation, and percutaneous left ventricular assist - techniques that have been shown to improve the length and quality of life.

Dr. Anh-Quan Nguyen is a cardiologist at Palo Alto Medical Foundation in San Jose, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including El Camino Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital. He received his medical degree from University of California Irvine School of Medicine and has been in practice between 11-20 years. Dr. Nguyen accepts several types of health insurance, listed below. He is one of 67 doctors at El Camino Hospital and one of 48 at Good Samaritan Hospitalwho specialize in Cardiology.

Veterans Memorial Support Foundation

Build and Maintain a tribute to U.S. Military Members and Veterans
Honor all U.S. Military Members & Veterans, Past, Present & Future
Educate the Community
Provide Humanitarian Support

MICHAEL FRANGADAKIS, BOARD DIRECTOR

Michael Frangadakis is a Vietnam Vet who served in the 44th Medical Brigade in the highlands of Vietnam. Today he continues service to America through his active reserve duty in the California State Military Reserve where he earned the Non-Commission Officer of the Year Award. Mike serves as a Sergeant First Class in charge of recruiting and retention in Northern California. He is currently the National Guard and Veteran Affairs Commissioner for Santa Clara County, the current President of the West Valley Advisory Board of the Red Cross and the President of the Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation of Los Gatos. Mike has a career steeped in real estate. With over three decades in the industry, Mike has served as broker, licensed and certified appraiser and CEO of his own business, Realty World - Frangadakis Corporation. His expertise in real estate and appraisals is often called upon for court expert witness requests in the state of California and earned him selection into the Realtors Hall of Fame. Mike has been extensively involved with his community. He serves on the Certified Community Emergency Response Team, is a member of the Saratoga Men's Club, Pan Cretan and the St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church. He has been a Los Gatos Rotarian since '78 in which he chairs their Operation Yellow Ribbon Program supporting the Fisher House and Poly Trauma Center of the Palo Alto VA. His personal passion is to support all military Veterans. Mike has been Married to his Wife Liz since 1981 with 3 adult Children.

"Interdisciplinary Innovation at San José State University”

Gary Craig Hobbs
Assistant Professor, Art and Art History

“It sounds counterintuitive for a teacher to learn from his students, but I do so every day.”
How can technology and creativity combine to solve some of our planet’s problems? Gary Craig Hobbs believes digital technology may offer solutions. Hobbs challenges his students to explore these issues through the creation of digital media art, computer games and mobile apps. Films, animations, artworks and personal experiences influence designs. The results are as unique as their creators. Hobbs, who grew up near Cape Canaveral, Florida, during the Apollo Mission, vividly recalls viewing initial images of the universe and how it prompted his own dreams of flight. Today, he partners with students to create a world with a brighter future.

Hobbs received his BFA from California Institute of the Arts and his MFA from the Digital Arts and New Media program at University of California, Santa Cruz. From 2009-2012, he lectured at the University of California, Santa Cruz and California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, and is currently Assistant Professor in Art and Art History at San Jose State University.

We hope you attended and enjoyed Presidents Brunch Sunday Dec. 2

Club DARK on Tuesday Dec. 4th so that you can attend the annual Presidents Brunch the sunday BEFORE this day:

About Presidents Brunch:
Kick off the Holiday season with Los Gatos Rotarians and their Significant others. In 2017 we had wonderful performers, a delicious meal, and 17 of our past club Presidents attend.

Inside look at transforming an old house

Chie Kawahara organizes green home tours to help architects and homeowners experience the comfort of science based energy efficient homes. As a member of Santa Cruz Downtown Toastmasters, she speaks about conserving water and energy at the home. In her prior career, she managed information technology implementation projects. Chie Kawahara received a bachelor of arts degree in economics from University of Hawaii and a masters of business administration degree from San Francisco State University. She lives in Santa Cruz with her husband and enjoys trail running, baking, and playing flute.

Highlights of Modern Astrophysics and Cosmology

Highlights of Modern Astrophysics and Cosmology

Dr. Edwin F. Erickson, NASA Ames Research Center, Ret.

From Exoplanets to Gravitational Waves, from Black Holes to the Cosmic Microwave Background, from Dark Matter to Dark Energy – modern observations are revealing exciting details of these and other phenomena of fundamental astronomical significance. As technical capabilities extend our limits of perception, theoretical astrophysicists strive to interpret the observations, elevating our understanding of – and raising intriguing questions about – the origin, the evolution, and the future of the Universe: Cosmology.

Successful theories not only describe and explain what is observed, but predict as yet unseen and even unobservable features of nature. Driven by curiosity, the astronomers and physicists are pursuing development of new facilities and ideas to further extend our limited perception and understanding. The talk will describe some basic Physics principles and their application to astronomy, to demonstrate some of what we know, how we know it, and what we don’t know.

Taking Philanthropy to next generation: Rotary Directed Funds

Beth is The Rotary Foundation’s Major Gift Officer for Zone 26. She joined TRF in June 2016 and brings 24 years of major gift experience to her role, having worked in K-12 and higher education as well as healthcare. Beth is delighted to be working again with Rotarians, having been an active member of both the Hawthorne, CA and Joliet, IL Rotary Clubs and is a current member of D5340’s Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club.

Her development career began when she moved to Illinois from Southern California in 1994, serving College of DuPage as Campaign and Major Gifts Officer, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science as Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, and Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center as Vice President of its foundation and volunteer services. Before joining TRF, Beth was the Philanthropic Partnerships Director for MIND Research Institute in Irvine, CA. Prior to 1994, her career included eight years in community redevelopment for the City of Hawthorne, California.

Beth is a Certified Fund Raising Executive who has a successful track record of helping donors realize their charitable goals. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. She enjoys volunteer service and currently serves on the Sociology Board of Visitors for UW Madison. Beth and her husband Tom have two children, a granddaughter, and a big dog, Jack. Beth supports Zone 26 out of her home base in Carlsbad, CA.

Responding to humanitarian crisis

The International Rescue Committee provides opportunities for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to thrive in America. Each year, thousands of people, forced to flee violence and persecution, are welcomed by the people of the United States into the safety and freedom of America. These individuals have survived against incredible odds. The IRC works with government bodies, civil society actors, and local volunteers to help them translate their past experiences into assets that are valuable to their new communities. In San Jose and other offices across the country, the IRC helps them to rebuild their lives.

4 students will present on 2019 Rotary theme

Rotary Clubs of District 5170 sponsor the Richard D. King Annual Youth Speech Contest with three goals in mind for the Club Members and each Speech Contest Participant:

To increase the personal knowledge and awareness of the importance of being able to speak effectively before a group.

To increase public knowledge of what Rotary is and does throughout the world, especially among young people. Through this knowledge, we hope that they will learn, as we have in the past, “He who serves best profits most.”

To increase participation in the contest and to provide all high school contestants an opportunity to win prizes as top speaker, or runners-up, in District 5170.

Seeing Again Guatemala

"Seeing Again-Eye Care Guatemala" is an ongoing medical and surgical mission project at the Clinica Maxeña in Santo Tómas La Unión, sponsored by the Diocese of Helena, Montana and the Los Gatos and Santa Cruz California Rotary Clubs. Its purpose is to save and restore sight to a very needy indigenous population in Guatemala.

IBM Watson- Ethics & bias in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

As a movement of society in recent years, there is no day that AI and Machine Learning words are not seen in newspapers etc. In 2007, IBM Research took on the grand challenge of building a computer system called IBM Watson that could compete with champions at the game of Jeopardy! IBM Watson represents a first step into cognitive systems, a new era of computing. Watson builds on the current era of programmatic computing but differs in significant ways. Cognitive systems, such as IBM Watson, can transform how organizations think, act, and operate in the future.

Sandeep Gopisetty, son of a former Rotarian, is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, Director of AI, Systems & Solutions Research, and developing an IBM Services Strategy with over 25 years of IBM Research experience. Sandeep has a passion for nurturing high performance, global, multidisciplinary teams to bring innovation from Research to the market in collaboration with product groups, services, customers, and universities.